The orphica is a portable

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

invented by Carl Leopold Röllig in the late 18th century. Like a

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, the orphica could be held on a shoulder strap, thus being an early forerunner of the modern

keytar The keytar is a lightweight synthesizer that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement onstage, compared to conventional keyboard ...

. Only a few orphicas were made in Vienna from 1795 to 1810; about 30 orphicas are still in existence today.

Beethoven's compositions for orphica

Among the few composers writing for the orphica was

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

. According to a letter of Beethoven's friend Franz Gerhard Wegeler from December 23, 1827, Wegeler had ''2 Stückchen für die Orphica, die Bhven für meine Frau componirte'' ('2 small pieces for the orphica which Beethoven composed for my wife').''Beethoven aus der Sicht seiner Zeitgenossen'', ed.

Klaus Martin Kopitz Klaus Martin Kopitz (born January 29, 1955, Stendal) is a German composer and musicologist. He became known in particular with his album ''Mia Brentano's Hidden Sea. 20 songs for 2 pianos''. In the US, it was 2018 on the annual "Want List" of t ...

and

Rainer Cadenbach Rainer Cadenbach (1 July 1944 – 22 May 2008) was a German musicologist and University professor. Life Born in near Kassel, Cadenbach studierte German (with Benno von Wiese and Rudolf Schützeichel), philosophy (with Hans Wagner and Hariolf ...

, Munich 2009, vol. 2, p. 788 This refers to the two pieces of 1798, WoO. 51, formerly erroneously titled ''Leichte Klaviersonate''.

Gallery

File:Orphica.JPG, An orphica at the '' Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti Musicali di Roma'' File:Orphica, Museum für Musikinstrumente der Universität Leipzig.jpg, Orphica ( Museum für Musikinstrumente der Universität Leipzig) File:Vienna - Orphic transportable clavichord - 9544.jpg, Details of Orphica (

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal do ...

)

References

External links

*
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Piano Keyboard instruments {{Zither-instrument-stub

Beethoven's compositions for orphica

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links